Complementing Opposites
by Tangent
Summary: Nabiki chooses to accept the engagement with Ranma when he arrives the first day...
1. One Sunny Day

Complimenting Opposites  
A Ranma ½ fanfict by Tangent  
Pre-reading and editing assistance by:  
Lord Talon;  
Nevrmore;  
And some guy named Steve  
  
DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma ½' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty and Viz Video. This fanfict has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even *GASP* American comic books!).  
  
Revised: 08/07/2001  
  
A WORD FROM TANGENT: While Lord Talon has informed me that what I'm about to attempt has been done before, this in no way has dissuaded me from making my own version. For one thing, for better or for worse, in all of my other Ranma fanficts to date, Ranma either has or will end up with Akane. Well, to this I say "Wrong Tendo"  
What difference does the weather make? What difference indeed…?  
  
CHAPTER ONE: One Sunny Day  
  
Soun Tendo, a man in his early forties, with a strong, kind face, long black hair and a mustache, read through the morning mail. Among the various letters, packages, and postcards was a postcard that had a message for which he had been waiting for a long time. The postcard showed a scene with a panda, and turning it over, he noticed that it was post marked China. Tears started to come from his eyes as he read the message:  
  
Bringing Ranma home.  
  
On Soun's face were tears of happiness as he said, out loud and low to himself, "They are finally coming here...How I have waited for this day!" Tears of passion streamed down his face as he strained to keep his composure for a few moments longer.  
  
He decided to tell his daughters immediately.  
  
Soun called out, "Kasumi! Nabiki! Akane!"  
  
Not getting an immediate response, he went to look for them, first checking the kitchen that was his eldest daughter's domain. She was indeed there, as she seemed to nearly always be. A brief pang of sorrow revisited his heart as he thought about this last and strongest connection that she had with her mother. He collected himself. Today's news was to be joyous, not tragic, as his wife's death had been so many years ago.  
  
"Kasumi!" he exclaimed, happily, managing to expunge his grief, "We are expecting company. Please get ready to prepare some tea for our guests."  
  
"Oh? Who is it that is coming, Father?" Kasumi asked curiously.  
  
"An old friend of mine and his son," explained Soun. "I will explain everything when you, Nabiki, and Akane are all at the table." With that, he left to find his other two daughters.  
  
* * *  
  
After a brief search of the rest of the first floor, Soun then went to check the bedrooms on the second floor of their family home, expecting to at least find his middle daughter there. As he had expected, he found Nabiki in her room, reading one of her manga books. Not that he minded. She studied and had good grades, so what she did in her spare time was her own concern.  
  
"Nabiki" he called out to get her attention.  
  
"Yes, Daddy?" Nabiki asked neutrally. Her father rarely interrupted her privacy, and when he did, it wasn't always with something that she considered worthwhile.  
  
"We are expecting guests today," Soun began again. "An old friend of mine is coming to visit, and he is bringing his son. Please go wait at the table and I will explain everything as soon as everyone is together." With that, he left the room to search for Akane.  
  
[So…he's going to introduce us to the son of an old friend of his, is he?] Nabiki pondered. Truth to tell, she had been expecting something like this for some time now. Japanese inheritance laws were steep, and it was unlikely that the family would retain the Tendo estate should Soun pass away unless a lot of money was involved…or the one other option that came to her mind happened. A small smile began to form on her lips.  
  
"I can't find Akane," Soun said, poking his head back into her room.  
  
"I'll find her, Daddy," Nabiki offered. [Now…what to wear? I know! Just the thing,] she thought. [I'll change right after I find Akane. She has enough boys after her already, even if she doesn't like any of them. Just once, I'd like to get a chance!]  
  
* * *  
  
Akane was just returning from her run, shouting "Hi! I'm home!" and then ran straight to the dojo, pausing only to throw off her running clothes and change into her practice uniform, as was appropriate for training in the dojo. She set up a quick array of concrete blocks and wood, then preceded to reduce said objects to rubble as she fantasized about doing the same thing to a certain upperclassman's head.  
  
"Ahhhh, good!" she sighed as she relaxed. Then she heard a small click. Turning around, she saw one of her older sisters, Nabiki, putting her camera away.  
  
"There you go again, Akane" she said as she shook her head, arms crossed in front of her. "No wonder all the boys at school think you're strange!"  
  
"Why should I care?" she demanded. "I'm not like you! Not everyone thinks the world revolves around boys, Nabiki!" Akane had had more than enough of the male half of her age group shortly after Kuno had made that stupid speech of his. All of the boys that she knew in school were either proving to be stereotypical hormone crazed immature idiots or were too afraid of said idiots to approach her in a reasonable manner. Especially after the first 'normal' boy got beaten up by the rest for trying to ask her out without attacking her. Was it any wonder that she broke cinder blocks or bricks nearly every morning?  
  
"No?" Nabiki replied, placing her hands behind her head, "Then I guess what father has to say to us would be of no interest to you would it?"  
  
Akane turned to look at her, "What are you talking about?"  
  
* * *  
  
The sun was shining brightly over the Nerima district. In the Tendo Household, Akane's voice was raised in protest. "FIANCE?!?"  
  
Soun Tendo looked at Akane, "Yes, the son of a very good friend of mine. His name is Ranma Saotome" he stated. "If one of you were to marry him, and carry on this dojo, then the Tendo family legacy would be assured."  
  
Akane wasn't taking this well.  
  
"WAIT A MINUTE!" she shouted angrily. "Don't WE have some say in who we marry?"  
  
"Akane's correct, Father" Kasume interjected. "We have never even met him."   
  
Mr. Tendo chuckled, "Well now, that is easily fixed!"  
  
* * *  
  
The sun warmed the street as two figures wandered through Nerima.  
  
"Where are we going again?" demanded a young man wearing Chinese style fighting clothes. He was interrogating an older man wearing an off white gi, glasses, and a bandanna.  
  
"I told you Ranma," the older man explained once again. "We are going to visit an old friend of mine. One that I haven't seen in a long time." He thought about telling his son about the impending engagement, but thought that it would be nice to provide the boy with a pleasant surprise for once. A nice change of pace from all of the nasty surprises that had been plaguing them since about three weeks back. Or the other uncomfortable experiences that had occurred over the years that his son seemed to blame him for. The old man pushed that thought aside, falling back on his age-old practice of ignoring the problem until it went away.  
  
"You know someone from a long time ago who is still your friend?" the boy asked, incredulous. "I'll believe that when I see it."  
  
"You will, my boy, you will." It was getting harder not to blurt the real reason out to the boy, just to shut him up. Fortunately, he had the wonderful sunny weather to console his flagging spirits. Truly a beautiful day - the surprise about the engagement and his son's gratitude would be the absolute perfect cap to it…  
  
* * *  
  
Back at the Tendo residence, Soun continued to explain the situation to his daughters. Nabiki, he noted to himself, appeared to be particularly excited about the prospect, and had even gone as far as to change into a kimono for the occasion. Kasumi, whom he suspected of harboring feelings for Dr. Tofu even if she didn't seem to be aware of it herself yet, had just come in straight from the kitchen. Akane, on the other hand, was obviously irritated over the whole affair.  
  
"Ranma is returning from a long training journey with his father." Soun paused briefly to sip his tea. "Recently, it seems, they crossed into China."  
  
"Oooh! China!" exclaimed Nabiki, who was definitely warming up to the prospect of getting to know someone who could tell her first hand what other countries were like. That, and the fact that he had been on a training journey implied that he was at least built well. A nice enough body could make up for a plain or homely face. And a well-trained martial artist could do rather well in the world today, either as a sensei or in the entertainment industry no matter what he looked like.  
  
"What's so great about training in China" commented Akane sulkily. Her recent experience with the now daily fights with the boys at Furinkan High School had left her more than a little fed up with boys for the time being. While she knew that she wasn't being fair to the boy she hadn't even met yet, she did not really care at the moment. "It doesn't mean that he's any good."  
  
"Is he cute?" inquired Nabiki, ignoring her sister. Practicalities aside, she could still hope, couldn't she?  
  
"I do hope that he is older than me" commented a worried Kasumi. "Younger men are so…young." She really wished that she could have thought of a better objection than that. Not that she could really explain why, but she felt that her heart lay elsewhere already. Now if only she could figure out who was making her heart flutter so. He had glasses, she knew that much from her dreams, which narrowed the prospect to about nineteen people that she knew…  
  
"So, what is he like?" persisted Nabiki.  
  
Soun cleared his throat. "I have no idea," he admitted.  
  
"You have no idea" repeated Nabiki, glaring at her father. That sounded rather less than promising. She had assumed that her Father had met the boy at least once before, and had approved of him. Instead, it was beginning to sound like one of those 'good deals' that he fell for every so often. One of the reasons that she became the 'Ice Queen' in the first place was to protect her family from those predators by being an even more dangerous predator herself. The other… well, she wasn't going to think on that just now. That problem was hopefully going to solve itself soon, and it wouldn't do to freeze it before she even gave the solution a chance…  
  
"I've never met him" he confessed.  
  
Just then, they heard a commotion at the door. "Aw, Pop, why can't we go home first?" complained a voice, which obviously belonged to a young man. Could it be them, Soun thought as he got up to greet his guests. Nabiki followed.  
  
"Oooo! It must be Ranma!" Nabiki thought excitedly, not realizing that she had said the thought aloud. Kasumi was happy for her sister, and relieved (although she did not just yet realize why). Akane decided that since Nabiki was so excited about this turn of events, her sister could have him.  
  
"I've already told you, Ranma," stated a voice belonging to an older man. "We will be staying here for a while, so you might as well get used to the idea." It was his friend…and his son. Soun joyously greeted them as they came in.  
  
"Saotome, my friend! We've been expecting you!" Soun quickly spotted the boy that his friend had been arguing with and concluded: "And you must be Ranma!" He gathered the boy into his arms for a manly embrace.  
  
By this time, all three daughters had gathered to see their guests. Nabiki, noticing that her father seemed disinclined to let the boy go, leaned closer to examine the subject of her father's attention. Hmmm, Ranma was as fine a specimen as she could ask for, handsome in a vaguely bishonen way. After a quick comparison between the features of the boy and his father, she decided that he must get his looks from his mother's side of the family. Not that his father was actually ugly. He was okay for an older man, and might have looked more attractive in his younger days, but she doubted that he could have matched his son's appearance. Nabiki wondered briefly what her own children would look like if she married the boy.  
  
After a moment, Soun herded everyone back into the sitting room. Nabiki sat carefully down almost exactly opposite of Ranma. Akane, glaring at the boy who was about to decide her future, angrily plunked herself down to Nabiki's left. Kasumi served tea to everyone and then sat down gently on the other side of Nabiki. Genma smiled at this, but Ranma failed to recognize the significance of it all.  
  
"Well, Ranma," Soun began. "These are my daughters. Kasumi, age nineteen, the oldest; Nabiki, age seventeen; and Akane, age sixteen, the youngest. Pick anyone you like and she will be your fiancée." Soun's beaming smile faltered as he noticed that the boy seemed shocked. After a moment, Ranma massaged his temple with the fingers of his right hand, as if staving off a headache.  
  
"Excuse me for a moment," Ranma said to the Tendos before glaring at his own father. "Is there something that you forgot to tell me, Pop?" His tone was low and dangerous, reflecting a wild temper that Genma had seen all too much of for the past month or so.  
  
"Heh, heh…I guess in the heat of the moment, I forgot to tell you…" Genma was nervous to say the least. After…the incident…Ranma had proved that he was quite formidable when he truly lost his temper. While not as scary as when he was dealing with his…cat problem…he was as easily as scary as his mother was at times. This looked like it was becoming another such time. And here he had thought that Ranma would like the surprise…  
  
"Forgot to tell me…" Ranma stated darkly. "Forgot to tell me, like you forgot to tell me that you couldn't read Chinese when you decided that Jusenkyo would be a good place to train? Or like when you decided that it was okay to eat the food on that table in Joketsuzoku?"  
  
"But I was starving…" Genma protested.  
  
"STARVING!?!" Ranma shouted, causing his father to back away in fear. "BECAUSE OF YOU, I GOT INTO A FIGHT THAT ENDED UP WITH AN AMAZON SWEARING TO HUNT ME DOWN AND KILL ME, AND ALL YOU CAN SAY IS THAT YOU WERE STARVING!?!" The Tendos stared as an angry blue chi aura manifested itself around Ranma. Genma wanted to make a break for it, but the thought of what his wife would do to him after what he had already done held him back. While it didn't exactly give him courage, it did balance out his fear with another fear.  
  
"How was I supposed to know that she would give you the kiss of death if you won?" asked Genma, trying his version of reason for the umpteenth time.  
  
"How…?" Ranma's left eye twitched for a moment, which was all the warning his father received. Genma spotted it, but it didn't help him in the slightest. Almost faster that the eye could follow, Ranma had stood up, grabbed the front of his father's gi, and was screaming in his face at the top of his lungs. "GET OUT OF MY LIFE, YOU PANDA, BEFORE YOU DESTROY ANY MORE OF IT!!!" With that, he flung his father into the koi pond in the Tendo's yard.  
  
Ranma calmed himself down and settled at the table once again as he tried to remember what little he knew of formalities and manners. He took a deep breath and timed himself carefully. "Please excuse my unseemly outburst just now, but there are some things that you have a right to know before we decide to uphold the marriage agreement between our clans." Ranma subtly braced himself for the next phrase, hoping that he had predicted his father's reaction correctly. "And this…" The Tendos facefaulted as a giant panda rose out of the koi pond, grabbed a wash basin, and threw some water at the young man seated before them. In an instant, a cute redheaded girl replaced him. "…Is one of them."  
  
"Nani?" Soun and Akane stated in surprised stereo.  
  
"Oh my!" exclaimed Kasumi in wonder. A real magical girl and her mascot! No, wait. That was just silly. Whoever heard of an overweight panda as a magical girl's mascot? Hmmm… maybe her dreams were about a long lost love from a past life about to be renewed, just like in those shows. Did this mean that Kasumi was about to become part of a bishojo senshi team? That would certainly be a change of pace, even if she was just a little too old for that sort of thing according to the anime…  
  
"Well now, this is interesting," stated Nabiki neutrally. She really didn't know how to take the fact that her prospective fiancee had just turned into a girl.  
  
"Perhaps an explanation is in order," Ranma offered.  
  
"This I've got to hear," replied Nabiki dryly.  
  
As everyone settled down, Ranma began her tale:  
  
"It all started about three weeks ago, on Mt. Quanjing, in the Bayankala Range, Qinghai Province, China…"   
  
* * * FLASHBACK * * *  
  
"Here, Sirs, is legendary training ground of accursed springs, Jusenkyo," the guide said with a mix of pride and caution in his voice. He was seldom asked to lead anyone to Jusenkyo, as it was one of the more obscure tourist spots available. Personally, he felt it was some sort of bureaucratic error that the accursed springs were a tourist spot to begin with. Nearly every time he brought someone here, they managed to somehow fall into one of the springs.  
  
"Are you prepared, boy?" asked Genma as he set down his pack. Truth to tell, he was a little disappointed in how this was turning out. While not exactly the same setup, Jusenkyo looked very similar to something he had Ranma do last year. Now where had that been? America…Australia?  
  
Ranma was less than impressed. "Aw…this place don't look so tough."  
  
"You very strange ones, Sirs" commented the guide, wishing he could speak Japanese more fluently. "This place very dangerous. Nobody use now." [There!] he thought [I've actually managed to start my explanation before anyone got ahead of themselves]. "Is more than one hundred springs here, and every one have own tragic legend." The guide was snapped out of his reverie by Genma's cry.  
  
"Ranma! Follow me!" called out Genma as he leaped to one of the poles. The boy jumped to one of his own and assumed a ready stance.  
  
"Ah! Sirs!" the alarmed guide exclaimed. "What you doing?" [I have got to start earlier on the explanation! Well…At least they paid in advance.]  
  
"I won't go easy on you" cautioned Genma.  
  
"That's just the way I like it!" replied Ranma confidently.  
  
"Please, Sirs!" pleaded the guide. "It very bad you fall in spring!" Unfortunately, the two paid no attention to him.  
  
Genma picked a moment at random, and attacked. Ranma, for his part, met Genma in mid-air and knocked him into one of the pools. [Well, that was quick] the boy thought.  
  
"What's up, Pop?" asked Ranma, pleased to have got the first strike in. "We done already?"  
  
There was quiet. Ranma jumped to a closer pole, concerned. When a panda leaped out of the spring, the event took Ranma completely by surprise. [Well, there goes my holiday bonus] thought the guide. The giant panda took a place on another pole.   
  
"Wha...wha…wha…" stammered Ranma.  
  
"That is Shonmaoniichuan!" shouted the guide, explaining what had happened. "There is very tragic legend of panda that fall in and drown two thousand year ago!" the guide continued as Ranma dodged the panda time and time again  
  
"Well, why didn't you tell us sooner?!" demanded Ranma. At about that moment, the panda had managed to strike him, knocking him into another spring. Ranma barely felt the change, which he later found out was another aspect of the curse. Only the fact that he was wondering what he would turn into allowed him to notice his first transition into female form. She surfaced, opened her gi to confirm her suspicions, and then screamed. After that, the events became a little hazy in Ranma's memory.  
  
* * * END FLASHBACK * * *  
  
"After that, I chased Pop around Jusenkyo a few times before I lost track of him," Ranma continued. "You wouldn't think that a fat panda could move so fast." The panda that had been Genma growlfed at this, but Ranma wasn't having any of its back talk. "Shut up you, before I decide to sell ya to a zoo or somethin'. I should have let the amazons make a rug out of you, but nooo! I had to save your sorry behind!" Ranma regained control of her temper and calmed down.  
  
"Look, Pop," the redhead continued tiredly. "I'm your son," (small twitch) "and I love you," (this time the twitch was from the panda) "but you can be so aggravating at times!" She sighed. "Look…go change back, and I'll try to calm down and explain things to the Tendos." As the Panda got up to head for the furo (he had been here before, even if it was over a decade ago), a thought occurred to Ranma. "Don't forget to change back before you use up all the shampoo again. It might not be expensive, but it adds up and we're guests now!"  
  
Genma paused for a moment, irritated for being treated like a little kid by his own son as well as the fact that he had indeed forgotten about changing back first. He sighed in resignation, then nodded, not willing to provoke his son again at this time.  
  
"Do you really think that you should talk to your father like that?" Kasumi asked once the elder Saotome was gone, echoing her own father's sentiments. A magical girl should really have better manners than that, even if they really were boys. Not that Soun had any idea that Kasumi's reasons for inquiring about Ranma's actions were a bit… stranger… than his own.  
  
"Maybe not," Ranma conceded. "But the curse changed him somehow. More than just turning him into a panda when hit with cold water, I mean." She looked into her tea sadly as she continued. "We used to get along fairly well, just two guys, father and son, on the open road, training in the Martial Arts. He used to be a great sensei, and I really respected him, even if he did have the occasional truly stupid idea that would turn my life into hell…" She paused, trying to reign in her anger over certain memories.  
  
"And since the curse?" Nabiki prompted.  
  
"Since the curse, he's been acting more and more irresponsible, just doing things and not thinking about the consequences, or possibly just ignoring them," Ranma sighed again. "It's as if he's forgetting that there are rules that he should go by if he wants to interact with people. He used to only act like that occasionally, but now it's unusual for him not to do something aggravatingly stupid at least once a week, if not more often. Jusenkyo changed him somehow, and that scares me."  
  
"Take what happened in Joketsuzoku for example," Ranma went on…  
  
* * * FLASHBACK * * *  
  
The two cursed individuals and their guide approached the village of Joketsuzoku. The Saotomes were currently in their cursed forms, as the lack of readily available hot water and the mercy of the weather dictated. Ranma was still in a wild frenzy of mixed emotions, but she had reigned them in and forced herself to try to find her center. Unfortunately, what she was finding was hunger. While this did distract her from her inner storm of conflicting emotions, it provided an unpleasant reminder of other times she had gone without food before. No help for it but to hold it in and endure the condition until some food was found.  
  
This, however, did not keep her stomach from growling.  
  
"Oh…I'm so hungry…" she complained under her breath. The Panda who was Genma nodded his agreement as he plodded along behind her. The guide said nothing, not having heard enough of the statement to translate it to himself with any accuracy.  
  
After a bit, the three reached the village and were drawn towards the sounds of activity coming from the crowd surrounding two poles in the center of the village. Ranma hoped that the guide would find someone willing to sell them some food there, and indicated her desires to the guide. Genma, unable to speak in panda form, and not wanting to be fed bamboo again (it was okay, but he was beginning to get a little tired of it), spotted something and wandered off. Ranma would have joined him, but the guide seemed to have found somebody to talk to, so she waited hopefully.  
  
The guide, after a brief talk with one of the villagers, started to explain to his younger client that nobody was selling anything until after the tournament, but spotted what the panda was doing. "Ah! Sir! What you doing?"  
  
Ranma turned around and groaned as she saw her pandafied father rapidly eating food that had been placed on a table off to the side of the tournament. She finally noticed a prominent sign leaning against the table, and wondered briefly how she had failed to spot it moments ago. It was a fancy, important looking sign that she couldn't read, but it told her that her father (and possibly the guide and herself) was in a lot of trouble…  
  
* * * END FLASHBACK * * *  
  
"It turned out that the food was the first prize of the tournament," Ranma went on. "The winner, an amazon girl named Shampoo, was pretty mad at us, and demanded the panda as compensation. I think she wanted to make a panda skin rug or somethin'… The guide wasn't too clear when he translated, and we didn't get a chance to ask him later." Ranma paused to sip her tea.  
  
Soun reflected on what Ranma was telling them, taking it all in stoically as silent tears began to flow down his cheek. Such a tragic story, and there was a serious chance that the marriage agreement would be canceled. Maybe he could talk Akane into accepting the young Saotome. Unlike his other daughters, she had kept up in her studies in the Tendo Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. She might be willing to do this for the sake of the dojo.  
  
Unfortunately for Soun, Akane had other ideas. She still glared at Ranma, relieved that a way out of the engagement was being offered, but not willing to show it to this…this…pervert. What else could Ranma be? She was really a guy who turned into a girl so of course she had to be taking advantage of it! The hentai probably stared at herself in the mirror or…or…something! Akane fumed on…  
  
Kasumi just listened to the story, feeling compassion for the emotional pain that Ranma and her father must be going through. She wanted to help the Saotomes, particularly the child who sat before them. She had no desire to marry the girl, however, as Ranma was too young for her tastes. Besides, she wouldn't be able to provide the kind of help that Ranma needed as a magical girl if they were to be married to each other...  
  
"So," Nabiki prompted. "What happened next?" While she had been a little taken aback at first when she found out about Ranma's curse, she still felt somewhat attracted to the boy who was now a girl. It wasn't as if Ranma had attempted, even inadvertently, to deceive them after all. The sense of adventure drew her somehow, like a moth to a flame. Her life was calm, ordered, and…well…a little boring, while Ranma's was…was…chaotic, adventurous, and exciting.  
  
"What else could I do?" Ranma asked rhetorically. "The girl wanted to kill my Pop, or at least make him a pet or somethin' If I didn't do somethin' quick, the matter would be taken out of my hands, so I did the first thing to come to my mind. I challenged her for the first prize." Ranma sipped her tea again. "I shoulda known that somethin' was up when she just smirked at me and accepted when the guide translated for her. The two of us took positions on this log that had been suspended between the pillars by ropes. She attacked me with a couple of bonbori, but I just kicked her off the log before she could get a hit in. Next thing I know, she kisses me on the cheek and the guide is screaming somethin' about some kiss of death."  
  
"Kiss of death?" Soun asked. Despite what Ranma had yelled to her father earlier, Soun had not taken it to be meant as literally true, so he was more than a little surprised.  
  
"Yeah," Ranma explained. "The amazons of Joketsuzoku aren't real keen on losing to outsiders. The 'Kiss of Death' is their little way of expressing their displeasure with such events." The bitterness was evident in her voice, despite her attempts to calm herself. "Would it have been too much to ask for the match to end in mutual respect no matter who won? That's the way Pop always said it was suppose to work." Ranma's bitterness had turned into real tears, but she hadn't noticed. "Too bad it never does…I never get to have any friends…" This last was said with such quiet remorse that even Akane began to feel a little sympathy for the girl (just a little though, and only for the girl-half…the boy-half was still a hentai to her way of thinking).  
  
"Well, I won't force the issue," Soun started. "But should one of my daughters agree to become engaged to you, you will honor the arrangement?"  
  
"Of course, Tendo-San. They're all attractive and they seem nice…" Ranma-chan stated, choosing to ignore the fact that Akane was glaring at her with renewed hostility after that statement.  
  
"Well then," began Nabiki, before her father could derail either her plan or Akane's by trying to hook the two martial artists together out of some sense of obligation or duty. "I'd like to give this engagement a chance." Nabiki smiled dryly at Ranma-chan. "That is…if you'll have me."  
  
"Umm…ah…yes," Ranma-chan stammered before regaining her bearings. "I mean yes! I will agree to become engaged to you, Nabiki Tendo. I am happy and honored that you will have me!"  
  
"Well then," Soun stated, a little surprised by this turn of events, but not at all unhappy. If Nabiki wanted to marry Ranma, and neither of them seemed to be upset, then all was right with the world regardless of the curse and the other complications. "It's settled. Ranma, Nabiki is now your fiancée."  
  
END.  
  
Aheh-heh… I really don't know where Kasumi's obsession about magical girls came from while I was revising this chapter…  
  
^_^;;  
  
Tangent 


	2. Fun in the Furo, Nabiki Style!

1.1 Complimenting Opposites  
  
A Ranma ½ fanfict by Tangent  
  
Pre-reading and editing assistance by:  
  
Lord Talon;  
  
Nevrmore;  
  
And some guy named Steve  
  
DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma ½' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty and Viz Video. This fanfict has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even *GASP* American comic books!).  
  
WARNING: Nudity plays a major role in this chapter, but doesn't result in sex (despite Nabiki's best intentions…). Just thought I'd warn everybody before hand. If this bother's you, you probably haven't watched a lot of Ranma anyway.  
  
CHAPTER TWO: Fun in the Furo, Nabiki Style!  
  
Akane didn't really know what to make of Ranma Saotome. In her mind, a part of her assumed that he (or was it she, since Ranma was currently a girl?) was automatically a hentai because of his (her?) age and true gender. To this part of her way of thinking, the curse just made matters worse because Ranma just had to be taking some perverse advantage of it somehow. The fact that she almost had become engaged to him (her?) hadn't really helped matters on this emotional front.  
  
On the other hand, she knew that she wasn't being fair to someone that she hardly knew at all. In Ranma's favor, he (she?) had promptly offered an honorable way out of the engagement as soon as he (she?) had become aware of it, stating that it would be wrong to enforce an engagement to someone who was known to be cursed. During his (her?) explanations, Ranma had inadvertently revealed himself (herself?) to be a terribly lonely individual whose father was borderline abusive (just which side of the border Genma was on was a matter of opinion and perspective). Akane found that she couldn't help but to feel sympathy for Ranma. This was at serious odds with her other feelings.  
  
Nabiki's acceptance of Ranma, and desire to be engaged to him was something totally unfathomable to Akane for the moment, as she wasn't particularly aware of how lonely her own sisters were. Being harassed by dozens of boys every morning had distorted her perspective of such matters considerably. Nabiki was as lonely in her own way as Ranma was, due to the attention that Akane drew away from the boys at school. Akane could not see that her cool, calm, and collected sister was drawn to Ranma's wild, fiery, and chaotic nature like an opposing magnetic pole.  
  
For the moment, Akane had subconsciously decided that Ranma was tolerable. Inexplicably, Ranma was worthy of Akane's respect and sympathy while in girl form, but was still a hentai while in guy form. This disparity would probably sort itself out as time went by, even if she never became consciously aware that it had existed in the first place.  
  
Unsure of what to do, she went back to the Dojo to break cinder blocks.  
  
After Genma had returned from the furo, Ranma had gone to take her own bath (and restore her true form as a guy). Leaving her dust and sweat stained clothing in the changing room hamper, and setting a fresh set on the washing machine for later, she entered the furo. Ranma stopped in disgust as she saw the state that her father had left the room in. Going back into the changing room, she searched for a few cleaning supplies before returning to the furo.  
  
"Oyaji no baka," Ranma muttered under her breath as she set about cleaning up the mess Genma had made. "At least you remembered to turn yourself back into a man first," she continued, being able to tell that much from the clues that her father had left behind. "I swear though, you are such a slob!" Ranma continued to straighten out the furo, putting off her own bath until after the room was once again clean…  
  
Nabiki followed her older sister into the kitchen, hoping to ask for advice. After their mother had died, Kasumi had become a sort of surrogate mother to the family at the expense of her own adolescence. Just how much help Kasumi could be was something that Nabiki didn't know, but she needed someone to talk to, and Akane was out of the question. Soun was talking to his old friend, catching up on their lives, so was unavailable for such matters. Besides, in his own way, he was just as hard to approach about such matters as Akane was (they were both so emotional and prone to overreact and jump to conclusions).  
  
"Kasumi?" Nabiki started, and then hesitated. She wasn't particularly sure that this was such a good idea after all. Kasumi was usually such a bright and cheerful person, so Nabiki had to wonder if she would even understand the problem.  
  
"Yes, Nabiki?" Kasumi responded, pausing in her preparations for dinner. She could see that something was troubling her sister. Possibly something having to do with her engagement to Ranma. She hoped Nabiki hadn't changed her mind, as their fathers were almost certain to enforce the marriage agreement since she had accepted it even after Ranma had offered a way out.  
  
"It's about Ranma…" Nabiki began.  
  
"Oh dear," Kasumi replied softly. "You're not having second thoughts about the engagement are you?"  
  
"No…it's not that," Nabiki reassured her sister. "It's just…I've never really felt this way before…about anyone." Nabiki's confusion was evident in her voice. Confusion was not a state that she liked to be in or admit to, so she was having trouble expressing it even to Kasumi.  
  
"How do you feel, Nabiki?" Kasumi asked.  
  
"I'm not sure…" Nabiki began haltingly. "At first I just wanted a chance at a guy before he became one of Akane's followers, and hadn't given much thought to how he might feel," she admitted, beginning to feel a little guilty about it. "Then this curse thing comes up, and I almost gave up on the idea. I…I'm glad that I didn't though. When Ranma explained what had happened, he…she…revealed quite a bit about herself. More, perhaps, than she would have revealed if she had been asked directly. I…I think I like her…a lot. I…don't know. This is just so sudden…"  
  
"It will be fine, Nabiki," Kasumi assured her sister. "Just give yourself some time to sort out your feelings, and don't be afraid to come to me if you need help. Traditionally, there is at least a year between being introduced and the wedding ceremony in arranged marriages. You have plenty of time to deal with the situation. Get to know Ranma better. Perhaps you will find out more to like about her."  
  
"Thanks, Kasumi," Nabiki responded, feeling a little better. A year would give her time to find out if she really liked Ranma as much as she thought she did. The marriage would go on regardless, unless she decided that she truly hated Ranma for some reason, but she doubted that this would be the case. She had been perfectly willing to become engaged to someone she had never met, and saw no real reason not to marry Ranma even if it turned out to be merely a marriage of convenience. She had just come to realize that this could be a marriage of love as well, and found herself hoping that this would be the case when the time came.  
  
"I'm glad to have helped, Nabiki," Kasumi replied, hoping that things would work out for the best.  
  
Nabiki wandered off towards the furo. A nice hot soak would be just the thing to calm her trembling heart down…  
  
Ranma had just finished cleaning the furo, and was putting the supplies back in their places in the changing room when Nabiki walked in on her. Ranma froze, unsure as to what she should do. She was currently a girl, so in that respect it was no big deal for another girl to see her naked body. On the other hand, she was really a guy, never mind what the curse did to her body, and she was naked in front of a girl. Unable to resolve the disparity, Ranma was locked in hesitation.  
  
"Well, your curse seems to be complete," Nabiki remarked dryly, noting her fiancée's dilemma. She then set her own set of fresh clothing on top of Ranma's and began to take off her kimono. In a way, Nabiki was glad that Ranma was obviously out of sorts. It allowed her to recenter herself and gain control after having been so insecure only moments ago.  
  
"Ah…er…" Ranma stammered, not quite believing what her fiancée was doing.  
  
"Relax, Ranma," Nabiki instructed in amusement as she continued to undress herself. "It's not as if we have anything that either of us hasn't ever seen before." Ranma tossed the implications of this statement around for a moment before Nabiki continued. "Besides…I think it's only fair that we see what we'll be getting later. Don't you agree?" Nabiki's tone and expression took on a more seductive feel as she eyed Ranma up and down.  
  
"Umm…ah…" Ranma continued to stammer as she grew flustered and embarrassed. Nabiki took hold of her arm and guided Ranma back into the furo.  
  
"Now, you'll wash my back, and I'll wash yours, and we'll talk about ourselves," Nabiki stated firmly.  
  
"Ah…okay…I guess…" Ranma finally responded, more than a little confused. Fortunately, Nabiki's deft handling was diffusing her embarrassment considerably.  
  
"And then I'll get to see what you look like as a guy!" Nabiki exclaimed happily, relaunching Ranma down her emotional rollercoaster.  
  
"Ack!" was all Ranma could say at this point.  
  
Akane started tidying up the Dojo after she was done reducing cinder blocks to rubble. She felt a lot better, and had decided to be civil to Ranma after all. Ranma was sure to be done with the furo by now, so Akane decided that once the Dojo was clean it would be a good time to get cleaned up herself…  
  
"Wouldn't it be easier to wash your hair if you undid your braid?" Nabiki asked, curious. Surely Ranma couldn't be that lazy.  
  
"Um…maybe," Ranma replied. After a moment she thought of something. "I've got to be careful, but I suppose I should show you why I keep my hair sealed." Ranma began to untie the binding of her pigtail.  
  
"Sealed?" Asked Nabiki.  
  
"Yes," Ranma confirmed. "Sealed. You see… sometime after Joketsuzoku I stopped a guy who was steeling a bowl of rice porridge from some restaurant owner." Ranma removed the binding and started running her fingers through her hair to undo the braid.  
  
"Very noble of you," Nabiki commented, wondering what this had to do with Ranma's pigtail.  
  
"Not really," Ranma corrected. "I was starving and hadn't yet learned my lesson about letting my hunger dictate my actions." With her hair now loose, Ranma filled a bath pail with cold water and handed it to Nabiki.  
  
"What's this for?" Nabiki prompted.  
  
"It's to change me back into a girl before the effect of the Dragon Whisker effect gets out of hand," Ranma explained. "Watch my hair and splash me with the cold water as soon as you see the effect."  
  
"What effect?" Nabiki queried. "The change of color?"  
  
"No," Ranma said as she got the showerhead ready. "This." With that, Ranma turned the hot water tap just long enough to change into a guy. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Nabiki was just about to redirect her gaze to check out Ranma's more masculine endowments when she saw his hair suddenly start growing at a phenomenal rate. She quickly splashed her fiancé as he had requested, but between the time when her arms started moving and when the water hit Ranma, the hair had already grown to reach the floor.  
  
"That's…that's amazing!" Nabiki exclaimed.  
  
"If you say so," Ranma conceded. "I personally find it annoying, myself." She began to braid her hair again, wishing that she had thought to get some scissors before demonstrating the Dragon Whisker effect to her fiancée. "Anyway, the only thing that keeps it from growing like that when I'm male is if my hair is braided and bound with the Dragon Whisker itself. The guy was nice enough to let me have it, for which I'm grateful, for I'd have been forced to remain in my cursed form for months while I waited for the potency of the whisker to wear off."  
  
"Does it work on baldness?" Nabiki asked, thinking off the possibilities.  
  
"Actually, that's exactly what it's for," Ranma explained. "The only reason it causes my hair to grow so fast is that I wasn't bald. In fact, the guy said that, judging from the speed of growth, I wasn't inclined to go bald either. Apparently, that trait was only from my pop's side of the family and I didn't inherit it."  
  
"You didn't tell your father?" Nabiki wondered as she began to help braid Ranma's hair.  
  
"Oh, I told him all right," Ranma corrected. "Hmmm. Stop when it's at about the point it had been tied off before. I like it that long."  
  
"Will do," Nabiki readily agreed, as she hadn't really been looking forward to braiding the entire length anyway. "But your father wears that bandanna…" she prompted.  
  
"Only to protect his stubble while it grows back at a more natural rate," Ranma informed her. "I talked it over with the guy, and he agreed to prepare some of the special porridge for my pop if he agreed to help protect the Dragon Whisker. Wars have been fought over it, and many people have died trying to get it."  
  
"You seem to be trusting me with a lot of information," Nabiki pointed out.  
  
"You're my fiancée," Ranma pointed out. "You deserve to know. Besides, it's not as if the Dragon whisker is worth anything without the secret of how to prepare the porridge properly. Neither my pop nor I know that bit of information." Ranma felt Nabiki stop braiding and reached back. Satisfied that the desired point had been reached, she tied her hair with the Dragon Whisker once again. "Heh…It's a good thing my pop doesn't know that secret, or he probably would have tried to sell the Dragon Whisker to the highest bidder he could find. He may be aggravating at times, but I'd really hate to have to kill him in order to protect that secret."  
  
"You'd do that?" Nabiki wondered as half-formed plans withered away in her subconscious.  
  
"I would've had to try," Ranma confirmed. "I made a promise to help protect the Dragon Whisker, and so did Pop. If Pop sold the Whisker and the secret of how to prepare it, he would've had to commit seppuku to regain his honor. Knowing Pop, I would've had to try to kill him." Ranma said this in an off-handed manner that indicated to Nabiki that, while the point was moot, she meant every word of it. Her subconscious mind found the withered remains of her nascent plans to have profited from the secret and bludgeoned them into oblivion out of a sense of self-preservation. "Don't let my pop fool you. He may behave like a loser most of the time now, since he became cursed, but he is a Master of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. Between that and the fact that I really wouldn't want to do it despite what he had done to me, I would've had a pretty hard time trying to kill him."  
  
"I…see…" Nabiki commented, shocked. "Um… wait here, I'll go get some scissors from my room."  
  
"Okay," Ranma replied, seemingly unaware that she had unnerved her fiancée. [I hope I didn't scare her too badly,] Ranma thought to herself. [The reason I didn't watch the guy make the stuff was so that I wouldn't find myself forced to choose between my honor and Pop's life. I really don't know if I could bring myself to try to kill him for any reason. By itself, the Dragon Whisker is only important to me, and that's as a seal.] Ranma hadn't liked scaring her fiancée either, but the discomfort that she felt when she noticed that Nabiki seemed to be considering the potential profit that the Dragon Whisker might bring her prompted her choice to do so.  
  
Ranma allowed her worry to show itself on her features while Nabiki was gone. What she had done felt too much like a deception to her, even though it was one of omission. After a moment, she put it out of her mind and composed herself. Nabiki had set off warning signals and Ranma had responded to them, as she would have in a battle. Better a harmless scare now than potential trouble later…  
  
Akane finished tidying up the Dojo and headed for her room, deciding to get something nice to put on after her bath. She decided that it really wouldn't do to make too bad of an impression on her sister's fiancé until she found out how she really felt about him. She spotted a towel clad Nabiki returning to the Furo as she headed for the stairs. [Oh! Maybe if I hurry, I can talk to Nabiki in private and ask her about her engagement!] So thinking, Akane rushed up the stairs and into her room.  
  
Nabiki had tied off Ranma's hair twice more before cutting it, using a couple of ribbons. The first section she cut prior to her fiancée stepping into the furo, while the second was cut after Ranma had been restored to his true form. This gave her two cut-off ponytails of approximately equal length, one red and the other black. She dipped the red one in the furo as she got in, noticing that it didn't change color.  
  
"So, What are you going to do with the hair?" Ranma asked, figuring that Nabiki had to have some reason for tying it with ribbons and cutting it twice in the manner that she had.  
  
"Oh, I thought it would be good to have mementos for later, once the Dragon Whisker effect wears off," Nabiki explained. "Besides…do you notice something about this section of hair?"  
  
"Um, what?" Ranma asked. Then he blushed furiously as he felt something that was provoking an involuntary reaction. "Ah… could you move your foot, please?"  
  
"Only if I get to use my hands instead," Nabiki told her fiancé as she continued to feel him up with the foot in question. "You really didn't give me a chance to look, you know." Ranma grew flustered and embarrassed at this response and her continued action, which put Nabiki back on top of the game. Whether he had meant to or not, Ranma had scared her and put her off center earlier, so she amused herself with a little erotic revenge. Besides, she liked the physical response that she was getting. It told her so much about what she had to look forward to.  
  
"Ah…er…okay, I guess," Ranma conceded. After a moment, he continued. "I really wish you would stop, though. It's really embarrassing and I'm having trouble thinking straight…"  
  
"Oh, all right. If you insist," Nabiki acquiesced, removing her foot. Ranma sighed in relief. "But you've got to let me look at it later," she stated firmly. "After all, you've seen everything I have, and I still haven't seen what I'm getting…"  
  
"But you felt it…" Ranma said uncomfortably.  
  
"With my foot, Ranma," Nabiki pointed out. "Although we could use our hands if you want to put us on even ground!" she said happily.  
  
"Um…I'll pass, thank you," Ranma demurred shakily. Then, in a desperate attempt to change the subject, he continued. "So, about the hair…?"  
  
"Well, it doesn't change once it becomes separated from you," Nabiki explained, pleased to have won this round. She definitely felt a lot better. She would have gone on, but Akane chose this moment to enter the room.  
  
Fortunately for Ranma, he was facing Nabiki and away from the door when she came in. As it was, Akane just stared at the two in the furo as her smiling sister waved at her and Ranma tried to slowly disappear into the water.  
  
"I don't believe you two!" Akane exclaimed. "You need a chaperone!"  
  
"I don't see the problem, Akane," Nabiki responded in dry humor. "We're engaged, after all. Why don't you join us?" she offered. "We are all going to be family…"  
  
"Actually, Nabiki, I think she has a point…" Ranma said quietly, deliberately not looking towards Akane.  
  
"Don't think you're off the hook, Saotome!" Akane huffed angrily as she wrapped the towel that she had been carrying around herself. Despite her comment, her feelings about Ranma were mixed. He hadn't turned to look at her while she was naked, which was good. On the other hand, he was taking a bath with her sister, which was bad. Of course, knowing Nabiki, she had probably walked in on him. But he was still in here with her… Akane's head began to hurt.  
  
"I think she took that well…" Nabiki commented after her sister had left the room. She was quite content, now that she had flustered both Ranma and her sister. "Hey, are you all right?" she asked, noticing that Ranma seemed pale and a little vacant.  
  
"…" Ranma was rapidly approaching mental shut down from having been in the same room with two girls while all three of them had been naked. And he had never even looked at Akane… Unable to deal with the unfamiliar pressure, Ranma's world went dark.  
  
Ranma recovered later, finding that she had been laid out on a futon and had a comforter laid over her. She took a moment to get her bearings before she opened her eyes. She noticed that she was female, of course, and assumed that Nabiki had changed her back in order to make her lighter. When she opened her eyes, she noticed that the Tendo sisters had gathered around her.  
  
"Ranma…" Akane started, seeing the neo-girl's eyes open. "I'd like to apologize. Nabiki explained what had really happened earlier…" Which, in itself, had been embarrassing to Akane since Nabiki had gone on in lurid detail. Added to this was the embarrassment that she felt from having seen him naked, after Nabiki had come to get help carrying Ranma. Nabiki had correctly pointed out that Ranma had not even seen Akane when she had barged in on them in the furo, so she was the one being the voyeur. Especially given the fact that she could clearly see what Ranma had when they dragged him out of the furo.  
  
Nabiki, for her part, had nearly panicked when Ranma had gone under. He turned out to be too heavy for her to easily get all the way out of the furo, especially while slick with water. She had draped one of his arms over the side to keep him from going back under, then had gone to get help. Once they had him out of the water, Nabiki got the showerhead and sprayed Ranma, hoping that the girl form would be lighter. Ranma was lighter as a girl, but not by much. Akane had explained to her that it was probably muscle weight that was making Ranma so heavy. Akane was heavier than she appeared to be for much the same reason.  
  
"…" Ranma still felt a little out of sorts and tried to get her bearings again. "It's okay, Akane. It was just an accident…"  
  
"I'm glad you feel that way," Kasumi said gently. "But they shouldn't have walked in on you," she continued, her tone taking on an effect of quiet reproach. "And I should have shown you where the sign was." (The sign in question said 'Occupied, please do not enter,' and had fallen behind the washing machine while Ranma had been looking for the cleaning supplies).  
  
"It's all right," Ranma stated as she sat up. "These things happen…" Ranma's left eye began to twitch when she noticed what she had been dressed in. "Ahhhh! What am I wearing!?"  
  
"Oh, that?" Nabiki chirped happily at Ranma's discomfort. "That's just an old thing of mine. Do you like it?" Said item of apparel was tiny, lavender, and transparent. Ranma could see the pink panties that the negligée barely reached, and it was obvious that she wasn't wearing a bra…for which, Ranma was actually half-way grateful for. As it was, she passed out again.  
  
"Oh my!" Kasumi remarked…  
  
END CHAPTER TWO. 


	3. Settling in

1.1 Complimenting Opposites  
  
A Ranma ½ fanfict by Tangent  
  
Pre-reading and editing assistance by:  
  
Lord Talon;  
  
Nevrmore;  
  
And some guy named Steve  
  
Updated: 5-8-2001  
  
DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma ½' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty and Viz Video. This fanfict has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even *GASP* American comic books!).  
  
A WORD FROM TANGENT: By now, some of you may be wondering why Ranma seems to be more 'wordy' as Lord Talon put it. If you remember from the beginning of the manga and the anime versions, Ranma started off as unusually subdued and polite after his curse, and remained polite and shy around strangers until his first misunderstanding with Akane. As Ranma seems to be naturally brash, this may have been another effect of the curse, or at least a response to it.  
  
Anyway, as Ranma believes, in this time line, that Jusenkyo has had more than just a physical effect on Genma, it would make sense if Ranma were also so effected by his curse. Of course, it could all be psychosomatic…  
  
In either case, it would explain why Ranma is more prone towards fainting in this timeline, as was depicted in the previous chapter.  
  
CHAPTER THREE: Settling in  
  
Ranma wasn't particularly happy at the moment. While the day had started out well enough, with the sparring match that he and his father engaged in nearly every morning, things had taken a slow trend for the worse since then. Oh, he hadn't minded walking to school with Nabiki, and had to admit that she was probably right about needing an education if he wanted to support a family no matter what he chose to do with his life. He even promised, on his own initiative, to try to do well in school, which Nabiki seemed to like. It wasn't until after he had gotten to school that things began to go sour.  
  
He was just settling in to the room he would be in while he was attending Furinkan, when everyone had been called to the windows. Upon investigating what was up, he saw his fiancée's sister, Akane, being attacked by a horde of twenty or thirty boys, all of which declaring their love for her right before they tried to hit her. This in itself seemed flat out wrong to him, as did the mass assault against her, and he had been about to jump out and assist her before he noticed that she didn't need help after all. Heck, Akane could probably teach Ranma a thing or two about fighting large groups. He'd have to ask her later.  
  
That Kuno guy was another story. Ranma could tell that the guy was holding back during his fight with Akane. Ranma didn't know how much the jerk was holding back, or even if the guy was as good as he seemed to think he was, but he was playing with Akane. Given the apparent motive for the duel, this struck Ranma as a dishonorable way to handle the situation. Akane may just be able to surprise the moron if Kuno decided to drop his pretense and get serious, but Ranma had already decided to make sure that Akane could take the jerk down.  
  
Which meant that Ranma had to fight with a girl. Well, spar actually, but it still wasn't an idea that he felt comfortable with. Unlike his father, Ranma had acknowledged that girls could be good fighters. Personal experience and the situation with his curse forced him to take that standpoint just for his own peace of mind. Granted, he probably would have denied it if anyone tried to tell him that before his latest decision. Admitting it to himself was one thing, but admitting it to others was another. No, the real reason he felt uncomfortable with the idea of fighting girls had more to do with the end result of the one time he had fought a girl.  
  
Shampoo literally wanted him dead. Well, 'her' actually, since Ranma had fought her as a girl, but it amounted to the same thing. Someone hated Ranma enough that she had vowed to track 'her' to the ends of the earth and kill 'her'. Just because Ranma had fought her and won. Ranma knew that he would have to resort to lethal force to defend himself eventually, and the whole idea sickened him to the core of his being as he couldn't really say that he hated her that much in return.  
  
In an effort to drive the unwanted memories from his mind, Ranma had asked Akane what was going on. What he received was an account of Kuno's stupid proclamation at the end of the last school year when he had made some speech about how no one could date Akane unless they could beat her in combat…  
  
"That has got to be the dumbest thing I've ever heard!" Ranma said in disgust. "What kind of Martial Artist does he think he is?"  
  
"I don't know," Akane replied. "But I've been able to beat him every morning even though he's the best fighter in the school…"  
  
"Hold it right there!" Ranma retorted. "If you're going to take that attitude, you've lost already. Kuno's holding back when he fights you," Ranma pointed out, holding up a hand to stop her angry objection. "I don't know how much, or if he could beat you when he goes all out, but if you take that attitude, he will win when he does." He gave her a moment to absorb this information rationally.  
  
Akane listened, having seen the level of skill Ranma had when he had sparred with his father earlier. While she hadn't wanted to admit it, she could tell that Ranma was much better that she was. If he had some sort of advice to give, Akane decided that it would be in her best interest to listen to it. She nodded, indicating for him to go on.  
  
"Look, I honestly don't know enough about either of you in order to tell you who the better fighter is, but this guy is being dishonorable by harassing you in this manner," Ranma stated. "What I'm offering is a chance to train with me if you want to, regardless of what my pop might say. That way, when Kuno does get serious, he will definitely be in for a surprise."  
  
"Thank you," Akane said meekly. Granted, a part of her was very exited at the opportunity to train with someone better than she was (even if he was a boy), but Ranma had burst one of the little bubbles of her world. On the other hand, he had done so for the best of reasons, pointing out a flaw in her world-view that could have gotten her in trouble later. "I think I'll take you up on that."  
  
"While we're at it, you can show me how you do that group fighting that you do," Ranma said, hoping to cheer her up a little. "I've only ever fought one-on-one or against small groups myself."  
  
"Deal," Akane replied, indeed feeling better that she knew something about fighting that Ranma valued and wanted to learn from her. Then a thought occurred to her. "Why would your father object?"  
  
"Ah, he's got some dumb idea that girls are too weak to be good fighters," Ranma explained, hoping that his tone conveyed his contempt for this particular opinion of his father's. He tried to tell himself that the situation would work itself out, but images of a murderous Shampoo were haunting his memories again…  
  
Another thing that was beginning to get on his nerves was all the gossip and 'advice' that he was getting from his classmates about Nabiki. It started out innocently enough, with just a couple of guys who wanted to warn the new kid about the various hazards involved with associating with Akane Tendo. Granted, they were trying to scare off yet another potential rival, but the threat of Kuno's wrath or the large group of guys that thought that fighting was the way to her heart didn't put out Ranma. He thought he had put the matter to rest when he explained that Akane was going to be his sister-in-law due to his engagement to Nabiki Tendo.  
  
Unfortunately, this had sparked a round of, of all things, sympathy from his classmates. The general consensus seemed to be that Nabiki, while attractive enough, was something less than an ideal catch for anyone. To Ranma's classmates, at least, Nabiki was either a money hungry mercenary just shy of being a yakuza, a control freak, or an emotionless cold fish without a heart. They seemed to think that the only way anyone would marry her was if it was an arranged marriage or if the groom was being paid a lot of money. Since they knew it was an arranged marriage, Ranma got all of the condolences, pity, and sympathetic advice about his 'unfortunate' situation he could stand.  
  
More than enough, really. He would have to do something about this…  
  
Akane looked worriedly at her future brother-in-law. She could tell that their classmates' unexpected reaction to his engagement to her sister was upsetting him greatly. She hoped that he wasn't going to do anything rash, and that Nabiki would be all right. Even though she didn't always see eye to eye with Nabiki, she didn't wish her to end up in a loveless marriage or with a broken heart. Ranma had gotten closer to Nabiki than anyone outside the immediate family ever had since their mother's death. Akane could tell that Nabiki had opened herself to him, even if she didn't know quite why her sister chose to do so. Ranma seemed to respond in kind to Nabiki, or at least he had yesterday and this morning.  
  
Akane silently prayed that her older sister's world didn't come crashing down around her ears…  
  
Nabiki was feeling pretty miserable. She had expected congratulations, or perhaps a little envy, from her friends and peers. While she did receive some congratulations from a precious few, whom Nabiki now counted as her true friends, the bulk of the reaction she got was disbelief. Even among those whom she had once considered as friends, no one thought that anyone would willingly marry Nabiki unless money was involved or there was no other choice.  
  
Nabiki knew she had withdrawn into herself after her mother had died, making few friends and creating an image of herself as an 'ice queen'. Just last week, she had been proud of that very image and the control over her own life that it represented. No one could take advantage of her; no one could hurt her. No one, outside of her own family, could get close to her either…no one could care for her…love her…  
  
What if Ranma was going along with the engagement because he had to? What if he didn't love her? What if he didn't even like her? What if he…hated…her?  
  
Nabiki sat down under a tree with those precious few friends who chose to support her. They could tell that she was distraught over everyone else's reactions, but were at a loss as to what to do about it. They just picked at their lunches and remained by their friend as she began to silently fall apart.  
  
Rescue came from an unexpected, but entirely welcome source as Ranma walked up to the group. He coughed quietly into his fist to clear his throat before he spoke.  
  
"You know, you have such a pretty face," he sad gently, "it's a pity to cover it in tears." Ranma squatted on the balls of his toes before Nabiki. "Tell me, is it because of what everyone is saying about us?" he asked, concerned.  
  
Nabiki could only nod slightly, unable to find her voice.  
  
"Well, What do they know!?" Ranma declared contemptuously. "Have they ever tried to understand who you are? So you are a little distant. Who wouldn't be after losing someone they loved? Trust me, Nabiki, I know what it's like to lose a mother…I don't even know if mine is still alive, we've been away so long. Everyone reacts differently to loss…Akane by throwing herself into the Art, Kasumi by becoming…well…Kasumi."  
  
"And certain amazons by swearing to kill you?" Nabiki chided, finally beginning to come back to her center. Her friends could only look at each other in confusion – Nabiki would have to tell them what she meant by that later.  
  
"Well, I hadn't really expected that to happen, but yes," Ranma replied. "Even that. Just don't remind me too often, I've been trying to forget about that all morning ever since that stupid brawl Kuno started over your sister."  
  
"I thought that you didn't get involved?" Nabiki wondered. "I didn't see you there."  
  
"I asked Akane about it afterwards," Ranma explained. "I even offered to help her train so that Kuno would have a nasty surprise waiting for him when he finally drops his pretense and fights her for real." He smirked once, before frowning again.  
  
"How did she take it?" Nabiki wondered. Akane was one of the best fighters in the school, outside of Ranma and Kuno. Nabiki didn't really know a lot about martial arts, despite living with her father and Akane, but knew that her sister was worried about Kuno. She also knew that Akane had a bit of an ego herself about her skills, and couldn't be too happy about being considered less skilled than someone her own age that she had only just met. Especially a boy.  
  
"She seemed to accept my offer, and really cheered up when I asked her to show me how to do that group fighting that she does," Ranma elaborated.  
  
"So she gets to show you something," Nabiki smiled. That would go a long way towards placating her temperamental sister. "Still…I'm surprised that you didn't learn that on your training journey. You seemed to learn every other kind of fighting, from what you told me."  
  
"I only ever fought small groups at most," Ranma explained. "You'd be surprised how seldom large group brawls happen. It surprised me when I thought back on it," Ranma commented.  
  
"Oh?" Nabiki prompted.  
  
"Yeah," Ranma went on. "My Pop can be a real idiot at times."  
  
Nabiki chuckled at that. Ranma, it seemed, was still a long way from forgiving his father of his foibles.  
  
"Now there's the Nabiki I got to know yesterday!" Ranma declared happily. He sat down next to her and unwrapped his bento. This gave Nabiki some pause for thought, after the little war he and his father had over breakfast this morning. Food seemed to be very important to the Saotomes, and Ranma had put off eating until he knew that she was all right.  
  
"Aren't you worried?" Nabiki asked.  
  
"About what?" Ranma queried between mouthfuls.  
  
"About what everyone is saying about us?" Nabiki specified. "About me?"  
  
"Ah, who cares what they think!" Ranma snorted. "I'd rather be introduced to your real friends," he said, indicating the group of girls who had remained with Nabiki through her troubles.  
  
"Well, these are my good friends, Ai, Hitomi, Midori, Noriko, and Tama…"  
  
Nabiki decided that she wasn't having such a bad day after all. In fact, by the time lunch was over, she was practically glowing…  
  
Akane grinned from her hiding spot in some shrubs near where her sister sometimes sat (when she wasn't doing 'business'). She had expected the worst from Ranma, after what he had been hearing about Nabiki all morning, and had come to defend her sister if he decided to take it out on her. What she had witnessed instead was something that she knew she herself would cherish for some time to come.  
  
Ranma, who had grown up alone on the road with only his father for company, could care less about popular opinion. Nabiki mattered to him. She was hurt, and he came to her aid. Just as Nabiki had reached out to the lonely boy who had shown up at their doorstep yesterday.  
  
Akane had to admit that her sister had picked a winner (it certainly didn't hurt her opinion any when she found out that Ranma really did want to learn how to fight large groups from her). She just hoped that she could find a boy like Ranma for herself someday.  
  
Ranma and Akane were waiting for Nabiki after school so that they could stop for ice cream or something on the way home. This had been Akane's suggestion after Ranma had asked her how to help Nabiki feel better. Akane was going to pay her own way, and Ranma had just enough to cover Nabiki and himself. He would have to see about getting a part time job of some sort (assuming he could even get a permit from the school allowing him to do so). Genma wasn't likely to get a job himself if he didn't have to, so was an unlikely source for an allowance.  
  
He and Akane were chatting lightly, talking about their common interest in martial arts, when Kuno approached and chose to confront Ranma.  
  
"Who are you, to be associating so freely with Akane Tendo," Kuno demanded.  
  
"I'm…" Ranma started, only to be interrupted by Kuno.  
  
"Wait, is it not the custom to give one's own name first? Fine then, mine I will give. It is I, the rising star of the kendo club, often called the 'Blue Thunder' of Furinken High, who stands before you. Tatewaki Kuno, age seventeen."  
  
"Did he just call himself 'Blue Thunder'?" inquired Noriko.  
  
"First I've heard of it," commented Nabiki in her usual dry manner.  
  
"Last I heard," started Tama, "he was still calling himself 'The Shooting of the Stars'."  
  
Ranma was less than impressed with Kuno's pronouncement. Bravado was one thing, but interrupting someone whom you had just asked a question of was another. Besides, he already didn't like Kuno for his apparent lack of honor while trying to claim to be a warrior.  
  
"Well?" Kuno prompted, irritated that the interloper seemed to be unfazed by his pronouncement.  
  
"Are ya done interrupting me yet?" Ranma asked sarcastically, not bothering to hide the contempt that he felt for the guy who was harassing his fiancée's sister. "I'm Ranma Saotome," he continued tersely, barely nodding, let alone bowing. Not that it really mattered, as Kuno hadn't bothered with such niceties at all himself. "Akane is my friend and future sister-in-law. Why shouldn't I be talking with her?"  
  
"So," Kuno declared, feeling insulted by the slight nod (and apparently holding Ranma to another standard than his own). "You are the scoundrel attempting to get close to Akane by becoming engaged to her sister!"  
  
"Say what?" Ranma responded in a low tone, under his breath. His opinion of Kuno, not high to begin with, was rapidly dropping to new lows. Adding to his darkening mood was the twitch that he saw in Nabiki's eyes as their classmates reacted to Kuno's idea.  
  
"Do not seek to fool me!" Kuno commanded. "Do you honestly think that anyone could not see through such an obvious ploy? Certainly no one could have any other reason for becoming engaged to Nabiki Tendo."  
  
"You will apologize to my fiancée right now!" Ranma demanded, anger evident in his voice and in his eyes. "And you will apologize to her sister as well, for provoking those assaults that she has to go through every morning!"  
  
"And why should I?" Kuno scoffed, oblivious to Ranma's mounting hostility. "You have enlisted the aid of that money-grabbing wench in order to abscond with Akane Tendo." There was a collective gasp from the crowd as a blue ki aura sprang up around Ranma and he assumed an aggressive combat stance. "Akane's challenge is a valid and honorable one. I see no need to apologize for either one."  
  
"It would be honorable only if she had made the challenge herself, or consented to the terms, Kuno," stated Ranma, whose voice had become flat and cold like an arctic wind. "You have insulted my fiancée and me with your statements today, and your actions against her sister prove that you are sorely lacking in honor." Ranma paused briefly to let his statement sink in, and then let his contempt for Kuno drip back into his voice "It's high time you acquired some." The gathered crowd slowly backed away to provide room for what they knew would happen next.  
  
"You would dare challenge I, the Great Tatewaki Kuno?" exclaimed the incredulous practitioner of kendo.  
  
"I thought I just did, moron," confirmed Ranma sardonically.  
  
"I'll not stand for this travesty!" Kuno shouted as he struck out with his boken.  
  
"Fine then," Ranma replied, as he easily dodged to the side and closed in. "SIT!" With that, he struck Kuno's chest with a powerful straight-armed palm strike, sending his opponent tumbling backwards. He continued his approach slowly. "I am Ranma Saotome, heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. For insulting my fiancée and myself, and for harassing her sister, I will make you pay!"  
  
Nabiki and Akane watched with the rest of the crowd as the fight escalated between Ranma and Kuno. It was soon obvious to everyone that the self proclaimed 'Blue Thunder' had finally bitten off more than he could chew. He could not get a solid strike in on the new boy due to the speed and skill with which Ranma dodged. Ranma, in turn, answered every failed strike with a lighting quick retaliation that hammered Kuno hard and mercilessly.  
  
Nabiki was fraught with mixed emotions. She was, of course, upset about Kuno's accusations and the fact that many of her fellow students seemed to believe him. Added to this was fear for Ranma, who had just picked a fight with the school's best fighter. However, as the fight went on, and it became evident that Ranma was in no danger, a fierce pride began to grow in her heart. Contrary to Kuno's statements and accusations, if Ranma had wanted to get at Akane, he would hardly have needed to go through her. Ranma had already proven in this fight that he was the best qualified to meet Kuno's terms for dating her sister. Ranma's only interest in this fight was answering the insult to the honor of Nabiki and Akane.  
  
Given the fact that Nabiki knew that Ranma had already had other plans to allow Akane to defend her own honor, she knew that her sister's defense had only been tossed in with hers because it was the right thing to do. Ranma was defending Nabiki's honor in this fight, and this fight existed only for her sake. Somewhere deep in Nabiki's psyche, a subconscious urge to become worthy of such high regard began to take seed and grow…  
  
If Ranma had allowed his anger to get too far out of control, Kuno would have been crippled or worse within the first few blows. Even so, he hammered the kendoist hard with every strike, each punch and kick placed just shy of the vital areas in order to prolong the fight. As it was, Kuno was losing, and losing badly. Losing so badly, in fact, that even he realized it. Kuno saw only one way that he could get out of this fight with any trace of dignity or self-image intact. He just hoped that this 'Ranma' valued honor as much as it seemed he did.  
  
"Enough!" Kuno announced. "I yield. I, the Great Tatewaki Kuno, 'Blue Thunder' of Furinken High, concede defeat at your hands, Ranma Saotome." Kuno swallowed his pride, and reluctantly continued. "What are your terms."  
  
"As I said before the fight, Kuno," Ranma stated as he stood down and relaxed his aggressive stance. "You will apologize to Nabiki and me for the insult you have given to our engagement, and you will apologize to Akane for provoking the morning assaults she has to go through." Ranma then added something as an afterthought. "You should also probably apologize to the fools who believed your terms to win Akane's heart for putting them at risk. Akane is a very skilled opponent. A practitioner of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts is not one to be challenged lightly. I should know. I am a student of that School as well."  
  
"As you said," Kuno agreed. "Very well. I shall set about making proper amends immediately." With that, Kuno prostrated himself on his hands and knees facing Nabiki, with his forehead on the ground as if he had committed a great wrong and was truly sorry for it. Ranma thought it was a bit much and just put it down to more over acting on Kuno's part, but Nabiki soaked it right up as if it was her due. As Ranma could hardly fault her for that, he let it stand. He just wished that Kuno hadn't chosen to mangle so much poetry with his profound and deepest apologies and requests for forgiveness.  
  
He was very grateful when Nabiki, finally growing tired of Kuno's rotten prose herself (despite the novelty of getting an apology from Kuno), finally forgave him. Ranma was doubly grateful when Akane and the others added their forgiveness as well at this point, rather than have to listen to Kuno again. Before he turned to leave, he thought of some advice for his fallen opponent.  
  
"Well, you seemed to have started well, Kuno-sempai," Ranma stated, bowing respectfully as one would do for a peer (a slight insult at best, but not one that Kuno chose to acknowledge). "You could try courting Akane like a normal person, you know. Who knows, she may just come to like you if you do." [As if!] "But you have to stand by her response! Akane's decision is her own to make, no one else's. Abide by it or face the consequences." With that he turned to leave, extending his arm for Nabiki to take as he did so.  
  
Kuno was stunned. He had expected to be told to stay away from Akane, and would have been bound by his honor to do so. Instead, Ranma had placed the decision back in Akane's hands, where Kuno should have left it in the first place. [Truly, you are a great man, Saotome,] he thought. [I am humbled to have met you.] He then chucked silently to himself. [Quite literally, in fact. I should think on how to thank you properly for setting me back on the path of honor. Would that I have never fallen off of it in the first place, and we could have met under more peaceable terms.]  
  
As Ranma, Nabiki and Akane walked out of sight of the school, Ranma looked at his two companions and smiled. "So…who's still up for ice-cream?" Just then, a passing car splashed him with a puddle, activating the curse and turning Ranma female.  
  
"Tell you what, Ranma," Nabiki giggled. "It'll be my treat, seeing as how you're such a cute fiancée and all…" Akane laughed and Ranma could only chuckle ruefully at this turn of events. "We should probably try to think of another name for you to use while you're in this form," Nabiki continued. "It looks like you'll be spending a lot of time in it."  
  
"Tell me about it," Ranma agreed as they walked on towards their destination…  
  
END. 


End file.
